Champions league mumbai vs lions

Two teams that came into the Champions League Twenty20 2013 with high expectations and as the domestic champions of their countries find themselves in a do-or-die situation ahead of their clash today. Mumbai Indians were scheduled to face Highveld Lions in Ahmedabad, but the relentless rains in that city meant that the clash will now take place at the sawai mansingh stadium in jaipur.

Both sides have been on the receiving end of a washout and a loss against Rajasthan Royals, and have only two points with two matches in hand in Group A. With Rajasthan and Otago Volts pulling away from the pack, the losing side will effectively be out of the running for a semifinal spot.

SQUADS

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ambati Rayudu, Aditya Tare (wik), Rishi Dhawan, Abu Nechim, Akshar Patel, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell.

Highveld Lions: Alviro Petersen (c), Temba Bavuma, Gulam Bodi, Quinton De Kock (wk), Neil McKenzie, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ethan O'Reilly, Hardus Viljoen, Rassie van der Dussen, Aaron Phangiso, Thami Tsolekile (wicketkeeper), Dwaine Pretorius, Jean Symes, Imran Tahir, Sohail Tanvir.

Rare pictures of Sachin Tendulkar !!!

Photo: © BCCL

Pakistan asylum-seeker Ahmed signs with Victoria

Pakistani asylum-seeker Fawad Ahmed has signed to play with Australian state side Victoria for the next three seasons, Cricket Victoria said on Friday.

Leg-spinner Ahmed, who could be in contention to play for Australia in the Ashes series in England in July if he is granted citizenship on time, was named in Victoria's squad for the next Australian season.

"Fawad Ahmed was the success story from last year and we're extremely happy to have signed him for the next three seasons," Victoria coach Greg Shipperd said in a statement.

The 31-year-old leg-spinner was handed a permanent visa to remain in Australia in November after leaving his home in the border region near Afghanistan, where he said he was targeted by Muslim extremists.

But to play for Australia in the Ashes from July he needs fast-tracked citizenship and an Australian passport.

Otherwise, under International Cricket Council rules, he will not become available until August 18, before the fifth Test at the Oval.

Ahmed played three Sheffield Shield games for Victoria late last season and took 16 wickets at 28.37, bringing him to the notice of Australian selectors given a dearth of spin bowlers of Test quality.

"Fawad Ahmed is a mature and very good leg-spinner," chairman of selectors John Inverarity said last month.

"I've seen quite a bit of him and all those who have played against him, and the coaching staff, rate him as a good bowler.

"He would certainly come under consideration. It will all be considered on merit. He will be treated no differently from anybody else."

Of his chances of playing for Australia, Ahmed told reporters last month: "Playing Test cricket is the dream for any single cricketer -- very, very exciting.

"Like a dream, especially playing for Australia in an Ashes against England. That would be a dream for me and would be amazing. I just only can imagine."

Cricket Victoria also announced Friday that former Australian all-rounder Dan Christian would be playing for Victoria from next season.

© AFP

Harris returns to home from India

Australia's Ashes preparations received a huge blow after fast bowler Ryan Harris returned home from the Indian T20 League. 

Harris, who was playing for Punjab, returned home to get his Achilles tendon injury assessed. 

The 33-year-old Queenslander, who has played 12 Tests for Australia, picking up 47 wickets, played only three matches this season in India, grabbing one wicket. 

However, Harris was to be one of the key bowlers for Michael Clarke's side but he could now be sidelined for two months. With Mitchell Starc already recovering from an ankle injury, Australia appear to have been hit hard even before the first ball has been bowled in the series. 

"I have to go to the T20-League. I would rather go and bowl and train over there than just sit down,' Harris told Australian media before leaving for the T20-League 2013. 

"If I stop bowling or doing rehab for a week, I struggle to get up and going again," Harris said. 

Dhoni: Our bowlers didn't perform

MS Dhoni was far from happy with his team despite his own blistering 37-ball 67 in Chennai's five-wicket victory over Hyderabad. 

Chennai's bowlers have struggled to finish at the death more often than not and ended up giving away 63 runs to Hyderabad, a side which has had a tough time with the bat. Every bowler, sans R Ashwin went for plenty and Dhoni was clearly ruffled. Coach Stephen Fleming had asked for an overall improvement from his bowlers but to no avail. 

Dwayne Bravo has been Chennai's most consistent wicket-taker this season but he went for 37 off his four overs as Darren Sammy, Shikhar Dhawan and Ashish Reddy went on a rampage. Even as Dhoni walked off the field after the innings break, he shook his head in disbelief and disappointment. 

"We started off well with the ball but in the death overs, we conceded too many runs. The bowlers did not perform well. The performances have been good but we have to improve our death bowling. 

"Not one bowler has bowled yorkers and it will be a critical factor as the tournament progresses. We have been consistent in the fielding department," Dhoni said after the match. 

Fleming agreed with Dhoni and stressed on the need for further improvement despite a cool 12 points from eight games but thanked his skipper for his sensational knock that saw Chennai through to their sixth win of the tournament. 

"We did a few things pretty badly but we luckily had MS Dhoni who finished the game. Some great hitting from him helped us win. We should have restricted Hyderabad to 130 but they scored plenty of runs in the last five overs," Fleming said 

Michael Hussey provided Chennai with yet another rollicking start but he got out at a crucial juncture for 45 and when Suresh Raina was dismissed with Chennai on 99, Hyderabad must have been optimistic about their chances. But Dhoni's arrival at number four changed the scenario and even though the captain started slowly, he upped the ante in a matter of a few overs, targeting Dale Steyn for special treatment. The South African pacer went for 45 off his four overs. 

"We lost wickets at crucial intervals but the key was the Dhoni cameo. We would like to improve in some areas but I am happy that we are in the top half of the table at the start of the tournament," Fleming said. 

Dhoni too lamented the loss of regular wickets in Chennai's chase but commended Hussey for another job well done. He revealed scoring in the middle overs had been rendered difficult by leg-spinners Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma, who were turning the ball sharply. In fact Bravo had to play out a maiden against Sharma as the required run-rate soared up but Dhoni knew that a top-order batsman had to stay around till the end without taking undue risks. 

"Hussey started off but we lost wickets at regular intervals. They had two leg-spinners who were bowling very well. As the match progressed, the pitch became slower. One of the established batsman had to stay there till the end," Dhoni said as he collected the Man-of-the-Match award. 

I will become a great bowler one day: Iqbal Abdulla

I will become a great bowler one day: Iqbal Abdulla The 23-year old believes inputs from Gambhir, Narine will help him It was an off day for the Kolkata Knight Riders as their bowlers were blown away by Dwayne Smith, handing them a five wicket defeat at home. Sunil Narine was the only bowler who looked like taking wickets and indeed ended up with three in his bag. For 23-year old Iqbal Abdulla who was playing his first game this year in the IPL, things did not quite go the way he would have liked it to. But Abdulla is a man full of belief and self confidence, who looks to gain as much as possible from his team-mate and mystery spinner Sunil Narine. In this interaction with IPLT20.com, Iqbal speaks about his team’s loss against Mumbai Indians, bowling in the nets to Jacques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir and about the belief that he would one day be a great bowler. Your first game this season; are you sad that you couldn’t make it count? I had a good start. And we knew it was crucial to get quick wickets at the beginning. Sachin Sir also got out, but I guess Dwayne Smith played some good shots to get his side off to a flying start. In your opinion, was 160 defendable, especially with the kind of batting lineup Mumbai Indians possess? See, we play as a unit and as bowlers it is our responsibility to defend whatever total is on the board. We were playing at home and we always had the confidence in our bowling. 160 was defendable on this wicket. It is just that we did not pick wickets at regular intervals. Do you feel the wicket was easier to bat on in the second innings? The way the Mumbai Indians batsmen played it definitely looked like the wicket was getting better. Kieron Pollard played a crucial innings after Smith’s dismissal, but it was Harbhajan Singh’s six in the last over of the match that sealed the game for them. There would have been a lot of pressure on Rajat Bhatia to bowl that last over. What was the team talk at that time? Rajat Bhatia had bowled well in the innings and we felt he was ideal to bowl the last over. He even got the wicket of Pollard off the very first ball of the last over and we felt we were in the game at that time. Unfortunately for us, Bhajji hit the ball for a six and we lost the game. Such things happen, but we need to come back stronger in the next game. But Dwayne scored the maximum runs off you in the run chase. What went wrong? I feel it was Dwayne Smith’s day today. I had bowled the second over of the match wherein Smith could score only one off me. There was even a small chance off the third ball that could have got him out; luckily he was saved just by an inch. I guess had we got that wicket, it would have been a different result. Was bowling difficult, especially after the rain before the start of the match? Because of the rain, the ball was getting wet just a bit and it was difficult to grip the ball. Apart from Sunil Narine, I guess Senanayake and myself could not extract as much spin from the wicket. How is it bowling with Sunil Narine. Has he shared any tips with you? I am working a lot in nets to get more variations in my bowling. I have been working closely with Sunil Narine and I hope I get success from his advices in the matches to come. Whenever Narine bowls in the nets, I try to read what he is doing and where he is pitching the ball. It is a natural gift that Narine has so many variations. Obviously I will not become a great bowler immediately but I am trying my best to grasp as much as possible. Have Gambhir and Kallis given you special advice on spin bowling from batsmen’s point of view? I enjoy bowling at the nets and bowl according to match situations. I try to implement them in the games as well. I do get a lot of tips from Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir speaks to me a lot and the only message he gave me was; the day you read the batsmen, you will become a great bowler at that time. I have the belief in myself that I will become a great bowler one day.

INDIA VS AUSTRALIA 1ST TEST: ASHWIN TAKE 6 WICKETS, CLARKE SCORE A TON ON DAY 1

In the first test match against Australia at Chennai, R. Ashwin take 6 wicket for 88 runs. Ashwin creates pressure on Australian top order batsman and take wickets for Indian team. at one point Australia was on the score of 153 for 5 wickets.

Great partnership was build between Michael Clarke and Moises Henriques. Both of them added 151 runs on 254 balls and take Australia at good position. partnership of Clarke and Henriques was broken by Ashwin.

At the starting of the day Australia won the toss are elected to bat first. Harbhajan Singh who was selected after a long time unable to take wickets. captain Michael Clarke score unbeaten 103 runs. This was the 21st test century for Michael Clarke

At the end of the day Australia able to score 316 runs for 7 wickets. Jadeja take one wicket for India.

Second day is going to be crucial for both the teams.

BRIEF SCORE:         AUSTRALIA:  316/7

Ed. Cowan: 29(45), David Warner: 59(93), Phillip Hughes: 6(15), Shane Watson: 28(60),   Michael Clarke: 103*(169), Matthew Wade: 12(35), Moises Henriques: 68(132), Mitchell Starc: 3(3), Peter Siddle: 1*(18)

Ravichandran Ashwin: 6-(88), Ravindra Jadeja 1-(56)

SHAHID AFRIDI MAY GET SELECTED IN PAK SQUAD AGAINST SA FOR ODI's

Former captain of Pakistan Shahid Afridi is likely to be selected in Pakistan squad. Pakistan will play one t20 international and five one day international matches against South Africa. Shahid Afridi may get selected in both of them as revealed by a source.

Pakistan recently lose a test series against south Africa. selectors of Pakistan squad is not happy with the team performance in the test series against south Africa. Selectors may take some strict action and would make plenty of changes in limited over format.

Shahid Afridi played two t20 matches but dropped from the one-day internationals against  India. Shahid Afridi  shown some good form recently while playing in Pakistan-a series against Afganistan.

Sources said "the selectors may select Umar Akmal, kamran Akmal, Ahmed Shahzad, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz Shoaib Malik, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid khan, Umar Amin and Zulfigar Babar for limited over serier

MAITHALI RAJ TOP ICC WORLD RANKING WHILE TEAM INDIA ON SEVENTH

After loosing the women world cup, Indian women cricket team captain Maithali Raj is still on the top in ICC world ranking. Suzie Bates who got women world cup player of the tournament take a jump of 5 places and claim her career best number two spot in the ICC world ranking released after Australia beat West Indies in the final match of ICC women world cup.

Australia become the number 1 ODI team and loosing finalist West Indies occupy spot of number 2 while India got the spot of number 7.

England's Katherine Brunt continues to head the ICC women's ODI bowlers table by taking 12 wickets throughout the tournament. The highest wicket-taker in the tournament,Australia's MEGAN Schutt has jumped 38 places to a career best 38th

The reliance ICC women's ODI all rounder table continues to be topped by west indies player Stafanie Taylor

AUSTRALIAN WOMEN MADE IT 6TH TIME , THEY ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS

Australia Women, electing to bat, scored 259 for 7 before dismissing West Indies Women for 145 in the day-night match.
Brief scores:
Australia Women 259-7 in 50 overs (Jess Cameron 75, Rachael Haynes 52, Jodie Fields 36 not out, Meg Lanning 31, Ellyse Perry 25 not out; Shaquana Quintyne 3-27)

West Indies Women 145 all out in 43.1 overs (Merissa Aguilleira 23, Deandra Dottin 22, Kyshona Knight 21 not out; Ellyse Perry 3-19, Lisa Sthalekar 2-20, Erin Osborne 2-26, Megan Schutt 2-38)Result: Australia win by 114 runs